Damien Jurado Talks About Hoquiam

Damien Jurado love him some record makin’. The guy writes a ton. (Need proof?) Apparently this runs in the Jurado family.

ENTER: Hoquiam

Hoquiam is the collaboration of brothers Damien & Drake Jurado and on February 23rd, St. Ives will release their self titled debut on limited edition LP. You can listen to the opening track, entitled “Zombies Of The Sea,” right here. Below are a few words from the eldest of The Brothers Jurado on Hoquiam:

“Hoquiam started out as an outlet or a way for me to channel the ‘other songs’ that I had been writing during the time that I was preparing for “Caught in the Trees”. This scenario had happened countless times before, where I was writing for a specific record and at the same time, I was coming up with songs that were less polished and more free, so to speak. It was a way to experience the realms of unconventional methods of writing and recording; to not do what was expected and yet still maintain a familiarity. I had done it once already with a record I did for Burnt Toast Vinyl called “This Fabulous Century” (2004), though I thought then that it would be less confusing if I did the record under my name. Needless to say, it was no less confusing.

When faced again with the same situation during my “Trees” period, I decided it was time to give these songs a proper home.  One that wasn’t in my house, but a space that I would share with my brother Drake. The decision to form a band with my brother seemed like the perfect idea on so many levels. For one, drake was not a musician. I wanted there to be an innocence and excitement like I had not experienced since I first started music. No expectations. No set of rules. Just a chance to sing songs with my brother and chance to make art. That was it.

The name “Hoquiam” is taken from the town of Hoquiam, located on the coast of Washington state. It is also the birth place of my brother Drake. So the reoccurring themes in the songs are naturally a reflection of these two things – our years living on the coast of Washington, and my brother himself.

The songs themselves are rich in the elements and themes of ocean air, coastal living, forgotten people, and lastly, the macabre. That last theme is a direct influence from Drake, whose greatest love lies in the genre of horror movies and garage music.

Hoquiam, is the end result of two brothers, mixing the influences of garage music, folk music and art, in a house we built together.”

As per St. Ives’ M.O., the sleeves for all 500 limited edition LPs were hand made by both Damien & Drake. You can pre-order the Hoquiam LP as of today from SC Distribution.

Keep your ears peeled for more Damien news in the coming months. In the meantime, head on over to Damien’s Myspace where he’s writing and recording a song a day. Or figure out how to successfully sleeveface this Hoquiam cover OR check out DJ on FB. Killer abs, brah.